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List of explorers
See also explorations, sea explorers, astronaut, conquistador, travelogue, the History of Science and Technology and Biography.
A
B
- Pierre Savorgan de Brazza Italian explorer naturalized French. French Congo's founder.
- Vasco Núñez de Balboa, (c. 1475-1519), Spanish, first to sight the Pacific Ocean, founded Darién, oldest surviving European settlement in the South American continent.
- William Baffin, (1584-1622)
- Samuel Baker, Africa
- Heinrich Barth (1821-1865), Northern and Central Africa
- Robert Bartlett (1875-1946), greatest Arctic explorer
- Willem Barents, (1550?-1597), Dutch, died on Novaya Zemlya Northeast Passage
- George Bass - Australian explorer
- Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, (1304?-1377?), Moroccan Berber Muslim, visited Mecca several times, travelled to Central Asia, East Africa, China, Tombouctou and other places
- Nicolas Baudin - 18th century French explorer, mapped the West Australian coastline.
- Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian explorer
- Moric Benovsky, Slovak
- Vitus Bering
- Vittorio Bottego (1860,1897), Italian explorer of the Giuba region in north-east Africa
- Saint Brendan - Irish abbot who sailed the Atlantic Ocean
- James Bruce
- William S. Bruce, (1867-1921) Scottish explorer of Antarctica
- Richard Francis Burton, (1821-1890), looking for the source of the Nile, discovered Lake Tanganyika
- Richard E. Byrd, (1888-1957), flew over South Pole
C
- John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) - Italian navigator in English service, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to North America
- Pedro Álvares Cabral, (c. 1467-c. 1520), Portuguese navigator, discovered Brazil and Madagascar
- Alvise Cadamosto (1432-1488), Venetian explorer
- Diogo Cão, (15th century), Portuguese navigator, explored the area around the West African coast
- Jacques Cartier, (1491-1557), discovered the St. Lawrence River and sailed up it to Montreal; failed in an attempt to set up a colony
- Thomas Cavendish, (died 1592), English sailor and explorer.
- Samuel de Champlain, (c. 1567-1635), established the French colony in Canada; discovered the Great Lakes
- William Clark, (1770-1838), with Meriwether Lewis led the first American expedition to reach the west coast.
- Christopher Columbus, (1451-1506), reached America looking for a searoute to the Indies; discovered various lands and islands and established a colony on Hispaniola
- James Cook, (1728-1779), explored the Pacific, discovering or mapping many lands and islands
- Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, (c. 1510-1554), explored New Mexico and American southwest
- Hernán Cortés, (1485-1547), conquered the Aztec empire in Mexico; sent out expeditions to Baja California
- Juan de la Cosa
D
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (died 1997), French marine biologist and explorer
- Alexandra David-Néel, (1868-1969), French explorer, visited Lhasa, Tibet in 1924
- Harry de Windt Explorer, adventurer and author.
- Semyon Dezhnev, Russian explorer, first European who sailed through Bering Strait
- Bartolomeu Dias, (1450-1500), Portuguese explorer who first rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
- Dinis Dias, Portuguese explorer, first European to reach Cape Verde
- David Douglas, Scottish explorer, botanist
- Sir Francis Drake, (c. 1540-1596), pirate, leader of the second circumnavigation
- Jules Dumont d'Urville, (1790-1842), explorer of the Pacific and Antarctica
E
F
- Edmund Fanning, (1769-1841), "Pathfinder of the Pacific", discoverer of numerous South Pacific islands
- Matthew Flinders, (1774-1814), first to circumnavigate Australia and Tasmania, extensively charted the coastline and named such features as the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Australian Bight.
- Alexander Forbes, Scottish explorer of North American Pacific coast
- John Franklin, (1786-1847), disappeared exploring Arctic Canada in search of the North West Passage
- John C. Fremont, (1813-1890), "Pathfinder of the West" explored the Oregon Trail and the Sierra Nevada, first Republican nominee for President of the United States
- Louis de Freycinet, (1779-1842), explored coastal regions of Western Australia
G
- Alfons Gabriel, (1892-1976) Austrian explorer of the Iranian deserts.
- Yuri Gagarin first man in Space and Cosmonaut
- Juan Galindo (1802-1839) explorer of Central American ruins
- Vasco da Gama, (1469?-1524), Portuguese navigator, first to reach India from Europe by the sea route
- Thomas Gann, explorer
- Francis Garnier, (1839-1873), Mekong River
- Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye, (1685-1749), explorer
- Romolo Gessi ( (1831, 1881)), Italian explorer of the Nile and of Sudan
- Ernest Giles, (1835-1897), explorer of central Australia
- Antão Gonçalves, explored the West African coast and was the first European to take slaves in Africa
- James Augustus Grant, (1827-1892), Scottish officer and explorer, explored the eastern equatorial Africa
H
- Hanno the Navigator - Carthageinian who travelled along the coast of Africa
- Hannu, ancient Egyptian explorer (around 2750 BC) and the first explorer of whom there is any knowledge
- Sven Hedin, (1865-1952), Swedish explorer of Central Asia
- Louis Hennepin - discoverer of Niagara Falls and the Saint Anthony Falls (the only waterfall on the Mississippi)
- Bjarni Herjulfsson - Viking, probable discoverer of North America
- Thor Heyerdahl, (1914-2002), Norwegian explorer
- Sir Edmund Hillary, with Tenzing Norgay was the first person to the summit of Mount Everest
- Himilco the Navigator, Carthaginian navigator
- Clement Hodgkinson - (1818-1893) Australian explorer
- William Hovell - Australian explorer
- Henry Hudson, (died 1570), discovered the Hudson River and sailed up it to Albany, discovered Hudson Bay
- Alexander von Humboldt, (1769-1859), German naturalist, explored Central and South America, visited Siberia
- Hamilton Hume - Australian explorer
I
- Helge Ingstad, (1899-2001), Norwegian, Danish explorer, Governor of Greenland
- Ibn Battuta, (1304-1377), Moroccan explorer of Africa and Asia, author of the Rihla
- Ibn Rustah, 10th century Persian explorer of Russia, Scandinavia and Arabia.
J
K
L
- Richard Lemon Lander (1804-1834)
- Jean François La Pérouse, (1741-1788), French explorer of the Pacific
- René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, (1643-1687), French explorer of the Mississippi basin
- Albert von Le Coq, (1860-1930), German explorer of Central Asia
- Miguel López de Legaspi, Spanish explorer of the Philippines and Mexico
- Ludwig Leichhardt, (1813-1848), Prussian explorer of Australia
- Dragutin Lerman, (1863-1918), Croatia, (Congo, Africa)
- Meriwether Lewis, (1774-1809), leader of the first American expedition to cross the continent
- David Livingstone, (1813-1873), Scottish explorer of south and east Africa, determined the course of the Zambesi, discovered Lake Nyasa
M
N
- Fridtjof Nansen, (1861-1930), arctic explorer, scientist and international statesman
- Nehsi, ancient Egyptian explorer in service of Egyptian queen Hatshepsut
- Jean Nicolet, (1628-1642), early French explorer of the Old Northwest
- Joseph Nicollet, (1786-1843), explorer of the Upper Mississippi River and Missouri River
- Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, (1832-1901), arctic explorer
- Tenzing Norgay, with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to the summit of Mount Everest
- Hugh McNeil , Lewis and Clark Party member
O
P
- Mungo Park (1771-1806), Scottish explorer of Western Equatorial Africa
- William Parry, (1790-1855), Arctic explorer
- Robert Edwin Peary, (1856-1920), first man to reach the North Pole
- Paul Pelliot, French explorer of Central Asia
- Auguste Piccard, (1884-1962), physicist and explorer
- Jacques Piccard, (born 1922), undersea explorer
- Zebulon Pike, (1779-1813), explored Louisiana Purchase, Pikes Peak
- Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, (1494?-1519?)
- Martin Alonzo Pinzón (1441?-1493)
- Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (1460? - after 1523)
- Francisco Pizarro, (1471-1541), conqueror of the Inca Empire
- Peter Pond, (c. 1739 - 1807), Northwest Canada
- Marco Polo, (1254-1323), Venetian Republic, travelled to China in the 13th century
- Gaspar de Portolá (fl. 1734-1784), explored California
- John Wesley Powell, (1834-1902), explorer, environmentalist
- Nicholas Michailovitch Prjevalsky, (1839-1888), Russian explorer in central and eastern Asia
- Nathaniel Pryor , (c. 1785-1850), US explorer
- Pytheas, Greek explorer who visited Britain and other north and northwest European countries
Q
R
S
- René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, (1643-1687) French merchant and explorer, explored Great Lakes, navigated Mississippi and looked for its delta
- Robert Falcon Scott, (1868-1912), reached the South Pole less than one month after Amundsen, but died on the return voyage
- Tibor Sekelj Croatia, South America
- Mirko Seljan (1821-1912?(3)), Croatia,( Ethiopia, South America)
- Stjepan Seljan (1873-1936), Croatia, (Ethiopia, South America)
- Scylax of Caryanda - a Greek explorer sent by the king of Persia to sail down the Indus River and around Arabia to Egypt
- Ernest Shackleton, (1874-1922), attempted to reach the South Pole and went further south than anyone before him
- William Smith (born around 1775), discovered South Shetland Islands
- Hernando de Soto, (died 1542), explorer
- John Hanning Speke, (1827-1864), discovered Lake Victoria
- Henry Morton Stanley, (1841-1904), successfully searched for Livingstone in Africa; later explored Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and the Congo River
- William Stairs, (1863-1892), Victorian explorer, discovered one source of the Nile River, first non-African to ever climb in the Ruwenzori.
- Marc Aurel Stein, Hungarian explorer of Central Asia
- John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852) explored Middle East, Central America
- John McDouall Stuart (1815-1866), Scottish explorer of inland Australia
- Charles Sturt - Australian explorer
- Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki, (1793-1873), Polish explorer and geologist
- Ignacije Szentmartony (1718-1793), Croatia (Jesuit, astronomer), Amazon, Brazil
T
V
- George Vancouver, (1757-1798), British Royal Navy captain; explored the Pacific coast of North America, naming many locations in the Pacific Northwest.
- Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye (1685-1749), French Canadian military officer, fur trader and explorer, explored Western Canada
- Giovanni da Verrazano, (died 1528), sea explorer
- Amerigo Vespucci, (1454-1512), discovered other parts of America and gave his name to the new continent
- Ruy López de Villalobos. Spanish; explored the Pacific and the Philippines, which he named after Philip II of Spain
- Willem de Vlamingh (1640-?). Dutch; in 1696 and 1697 he charted the coast of north-west Australia.
W
Y
Z
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